Great North Air Ambulance Service 'blown away' by will donation

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) said it was "completely blown away" after a will donation that will pay for about 200 rescue missions.

John Dodds, from Darlington, passed away last year at the age of 85, leaving all his estate to the charity.

He did not want the amount to be disclosed but GNAAS said it was the largest single donation in its history.

The charity said: "The donation will literally save lives. What better way to be remembered?"

GNAAS operates three helicopters covering the North East, Cumbria and North Yorkshire.

Its crews usually attend about 400 emergencies a year, at a cost of £5,000 a mission.

The retired physics and maths teacher appointed his friend Howard Wilson as one of the executors of his will.

Mr Howard said: "John loved motorbikes and knew the air ambulance goes to lots of remote locations on rough terrain where normal land ambulances can't go and it struck a chord with him.

"He loved charitable work and used to help old ladies on their shopping trips and do book runs where he would pick books up from the library and take them to people's houses who couldn't get out.

GNAAS legacy officer Hannah Powell said: "When we first met [John] he sat down and chatted to me and told me ever so casually that he had decided that GNAAS was the charity to which he would be leaving his whole estate to.

"I am so grateful for John and others just like him.

"We couldn't have survived the pandemic without gifts in wills and they made up 40% of our income last year."

Mr Howard said Mr Dodds had an "amazing life", adding: "As you get older your attitude to life changes, and you realise you aren't going to live forever.

"It isn't the length of your life that matters it is the quality of it and John was happy knowing he had reached the end."

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